WEEK 1

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 1

[Well, this is...happening. This is a thing. This is your life now. The Commander is expecting you to just up and kill one another, and then try to get away with it. No big deal, right? You guys can handle this. You won't fall for what she has. She's clearly an idiot. A loud idiot, but still an idiot. She's not going to get one over you.

...Right?

In any case, the Commander's quarters are now open for anyone who decides they can actually stand to be in the same room as her, but beware - any favor you might ask of her is going to come at a price, and who knows what she'll ask you to do if you decide to gain a boon from her. Unless you're a suck-up like Baku - then she'll apparently be flattered. Maybe that's a good tactic to use?


Whatever you do, try not to murder the bread again. The Bread Did Nothing Wrong.


There are fifteen strangers in this place.]



MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY

Comments

[earietale]

Can I ask what it's about? I might be interested as well once you're done with it.

[Even if it's not that good she just might read it anyway. Any book might be better than thinking about their current situation.]

[beguiledcard]

Did you know the Akita Inu looks completely different in Japan, in two thousand sixteen, than it did almost sixty years prior?

[ Yep... it's a book on random dog facts. He holds it up so she can see the cover - there's a picture of a Very Good Dog there. ]

[earietale]

[She's not usually a dog person, but AWWWWWW]

Really? What's it look like nowadays?

[She sits down as she says that, wanting to get a better look at the Super Good Boy.]

[beguiledcard]

Well, unlike here... [ opening the book, pointing to the page he was just on ] Where they've got bigger ears...

[ He twists a strand of his bangs. ]

They're... [ annnnd he's literally drawing smaller, even more triangular ears over his own head ] ... cuter? Much fluffier. Plus, the reddish brown and white merge together, rather than... standing apart so much as two different colors? They're not outright spotted-looking, like in that picture.

[ It's the best he can do to explain, and he hopes it makes sense! ]

[earietale]

[She nods her head a little bit, seeming to understand.]

So what you're saying is, they got even better?

[Cause let's be real all dogs are good and they can only go up from there.]

[beguiledcard]

[ A blink... a pause...

Then he can't help giving a quiet laugh as he nods. ]

Exactly.

[earietale]

Okay, then I need to at least see one if we ever get out of here. I'm going to feel like I got ripped off if I came to the future and I never got see a dog that got cuter than the original!

[Why is she saying it so passingly? Because forget keeping it a secret. She is from 1960 and it's probably harder to cover it up than pretend she's from modern times.]

[beguiledcard]

[ He blinks a couple of times, though the smile returns to his lips. ]

The future, huh...?

[ With a thoughtful expression, he tilts his head to the side, ever-so-slightly. ]

I'm not sure how far into the future this could even be considered, right this second. To me, a lot of this stuff seems to be from an earlier time. Maybe... thirty, or so, years earlier? Where I'm from, we have things like smartphones, thin laptops...

[ Briefly, he's scrubbing a hand through his hair. ]

Sorry, I never even introduced myself. [ even if the profiles give their info away right at the start ] I'm Akira Kurusu.

[earietale]

Well, technically that would still be the future for me. From what I remember, it should be 1960, but...we didn't exactly have guns that could set things on fire back then.

[AKA lasers]

Oh, right. Barbara Finch.

[don't worry she hasn't seen the profiles yet so she doesn't know almost everyone right now]

[beguiledcard]

It's nice to meet you, in spite of the circumstances. [ a pause ] And, do you mean... open flames, or...?

[ Right now? He's imagining a flamethrower. ]

[earietale]

More like...it looked like a prop gun, but then I shot some bread and there was a weird noise before it caught fire. Something like that.

[beguiledcard]

[ Oh.

Weird noise... then fire? Sounds more like... ]

A laser gun, maybe?

[earietale]

Maybe? I don't have much to compare it to.

The point is, I've somehow jumped at least twenty years into future, or if we're more in yours or C's time, at least fifty, probably more.

[She says it kind of somberly. After all, how are you supposed to react to getting sent possibly half a century into the future for something like this?]

[beguiledcard]

[ There's a thoughtful hum as he nods. ]

... Must be difficult.

[earietale]

...yeah, it is. Part of me keeps expecting it to be a dream, but then I pinch myself, and I'm still here.

[She pinches herself now, and winces a little bit, but opens her eyes and sighs.]

There's not much I can do about it, though. Freaking out about all of this high tech stuff isn't going to help anyone. I just need to get used to everything and hope my family is okay.

[beguiledcard]

[ He attempts a reassuring smile. ]

I'm sure they are. We'll... do our best, right? To get everyone home.

[earietale]

[She thinks about it for a second, before she nods her head a little bit, and a small smile gets on her face.]

Yeah, I think we will. Everyone here seems pretty nice and reasonable, and at the very least we all probably don't want to do what the Commander tells us. We might be able to just bore her into letting us go.

[She...doesn't seem like a patient woman, is what she's saying.]

[beguiledcard]

[ He isn't so sure about the "everyone" part of that, but he won't outright argue. ]

I remember... thinking that about everyone in week three. Sometimes even the nicest person can get desperate, unfortunately. We just... I really think our best approach is to be reassuring to one another. Remind each person they're important to the group, no matter what...

[ Although his brow tenses at that last sentence. It lingers as he says the next part, his thoughts drifting to ones he remembers having during weeks three and four. ]

Right now, trusting and not jumping to assumptions with one another is going to be our biggest challenge, I think. You... honestly never know the kind of shoes someone might be walking in.

[earietale]

[As she listens, her smile diminishes. He has a point. You don't really know some people until they decide to show who they really are. Hollywood helped show her that.

But if there was another thing Hollywood showed her, it was that you can't give up easily. Even if the odds seemed well against you, it was always better to fight then to go in willingly.

And that's why she's gonna get a little closer to Akira, and put a hand on his shoulder.]

Well, I think you're important to the group, and I appreciate everything you're doing to help us. I trust you, and I hope that you trust me.

[beguiledcard]

[ There are a couple of surprised blinks as his expression softens. Something about this entire moment is giving him such a swell of deja vu; it's in a way that's so overwhelmingly bittersweet. And, just like that, he wants to smile in spite of the dull ache in his chest.

He smiles anyway. ]

Thank you, Barbara. That means- a lot. [ ah - his throat feels a bit tight ] ... It means more than you could know, actually.

[ And he swallows down the painful lump, still smiling as he nods. ]

I trust you, too.

[earietale]

[That...doesn't sound too good. She's not sure if he's feeling ill or if it's some sadness, but he definitely seems upset about something.]

Hey, are you alright? Do you need a drink of water or anything?

[beguiledcard]

[ He hurriedly shakes his head. ]

No, just... I'm-

[ There's an obvious strain in his expression. ]

It's just like... last time, with the gaps in my memory. For some reason, I feel like they took way more away from me, than they did last time. Even if, this time, I can remember my parents and my sister...

[ He releases a wry-sounding 'heh' and scrubs a hand through his hair. ]

[earietale]

So, they can make you forget people too...

[That's...a really scary thought, for her. The idea of forgetting one her brothers, as annoying as they are, is just...terrifying. She can't imagine how he feels about that.]

Well, maybe I can try and help you remember them? I'm not sure how good I would be at it, but I could at least try.

[beguiledcard]

[ He looks to the side a moment... ]

Usually... there's a memory regained at the end of each week. So, if we're lucky, there's that.

[earietale]

Okay, then...on Saturday, we’ll talk about it. We’ll see if you can remember anyone, and you can tell me about it. Does that sound like a good idea?